StartX blank screen problem (solved)

What speed (also known as class - the number in the circle) SD cards are you using? Try to get hold of class 6 or 4 - they seem to be the most reliable. Is there anything else at all unusual about your setup? (wireless/backlit keyboard/mouse, etc).

My setup isn't exactly unusual, just a BlackBerry charger for power (tried Apple too!), connected to 50" LG TV via HDMI cable, connected to Router via Ethernet cable. The mouse/keyboard is wireless but I don't see how that would make a difference, and I tried doing it via SSH too so that would eliminate the wireless adapter using too much power or whatever you may be thinking.

Haven't really used the mouse as I can't do anything with it yet, and the keyboard isn't backlit or anything it doesn't have any lights at all just a basic keyboard, possibly Logitech but I can't remember at the moment.

Once I have eliminated the SD card problem, if I buy a new one. What else could there be that is affecting it?

One of my neighbours has invited my family around later for some drinks, and he has 2 raspberry pi's so he said he'll have a look at it for me. He works with computers for his job so hopefully he'll be able to give me some advice.

While you are learning I would get two 4gGb SD cards once you are confident then see about a larger card. Given that scenario if by then you are running on a good powered hub why not stick with the 4Gb SD and get a big USB stick you only need minimalist stuff on the SD and use the Stick for your main file system storage.

A couple of smaller SD cards will at least allways leave you with hopefully one working.

Noob is not derogatory the noob is just the lower end of the noob--geek spectrum being a noob is just your first step towards being an uber-geek

If you find a solution please post it in the wiki the forum dies too quick

How would I use 2 SD cards though? You mean like have one OS on one, another on a different card or something? I'm starting to think my SD cards are too old, so I want to just buy a new one that has been proven to work, just in case!

I got a 64GB USB stick for Christmas, so I guess that would probably be enough

But the price difference between 4GB/8GB/16GB seems to be very small, so I may as well just go for a bigger one?

So at long last I have icons and a start bar showing on my desktop. I am assuming one, many (or none!) of the following actions I took fixed the problem. I'll leave it to others more experienced to speculate which

Re-imaged existing SD card, using a different mirror source. Ensured 'safely remove hardware' option within windows used before 'unplugging' card.

Selected 'Expand root partition to fill SD card' in Raspi-Config splash screen and then rebooted. (did not realise previously that option had to be selected rather than just showing on the display before exiting).